Non-thermal air plasmas contain reactive chemical species (reactive gases) that make them suitable for applications such as surface priming, decontamination, sterilization, and biomedical treatments such as skin treatments. Reactive gas as employed herein refers to non-thermal air plasma. Decontamination as employed herein refers to the killing or suppression of biological agents such as bacteria, prions, viruses, cells, spores, biofilms and the like.
At atmospheric pressure, glow discharges in air easily transition into spark discharges that significantly heat the gas, which is problematic for applications sensitive to temperature. Therefore there remains a need to provide a non-thermal means of decontamination.